The Development of a Russian Legal Consciousness

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Published
March 2011

Until the nineteenth century, the Russian legal system was subject to an administrative hierarchy headed by the tsar, and the courts were expected to enforce, not interpret the law. Richard S. Wortman here traces the first professional class of legal experts who emerged during the reign of Nicholas I (1826 – 56) and who began to view the law as a uniquely modern and independent source of authority. Discussing how new legal institutions fit into the traditional system of tsarist rule, Wortman analyzes how conflict arose from the same intellectual processes that produced legal reform. He ultimately demonstrates how the stage was set for later events, as the autocracy and judiciary pursued contradictory—and mutually destructive—goals.

FrontmatterAbbreviationsAcknowledgmentsGeneral IntroductionI. Autocracy and the Law1. Absolutism and Justice in Eighteenth-Century Russia2. Buraeucratization, Specialization, and Education3. The Composition of the Russian Legal Administration in the First Half of the Nineteenth CenturyII. The Men4. Russia's First Minister of Justice5. The Quiet Shelter6. Count Dmitrii Nikolaevich Bludov7. Count Victor Nikitich Panin8. The Emergence of a Legal EthosIII. Reform9. The Aspiration to Legality10. Epilogue and ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

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